(Carson City, NV; October 3, 2012) – Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller is warning eligible Nevadans who have not yet registered to vote that waiting until the final October 6th deadline for registering online may cause their registration to be delayed. Because there is a daily cap in the number of online voter registrations the system is able to process, Miller is advising those who have not registered to do so immediately. In recent weeks, with the approaching election and early voting season, and a statewide campaign to encourage voter registration, the online registration system has experienced an increase in volume of more than 300%, with a record-breaking day on October 1.

Since the start of the of the Secretary of State’s voter registration education campaign on September 17, new registrations average about 1,000 per day with a total of more than 15,000 new registrations received through October 2, which is 30 times the amount of new registrations processed online in the three weeks preceding the close of voter registration for the 2012 primary election, and nearly five times the volume prior to the close of voter registration for the 2010 general election.

The online system received a record-number of users on Monday, Oct. 1, when 2,823 residents accessed www.registertovotenv.gov to either register for the first time (1,688) or update their address or party affiliation (1,135). Approximately 608,000 Nevadans are eligible but unregistered to vote.

“One of the great advantages of the online system, besides its obvious ease, is the ability to immediately confirm that you’ve been added to the rolls,” said Miller. “An overloaded system won’t be able to provide that immediate confirmation, and will put the application in a temporary pending status. I want to be clear that the temporary status won’t ultimately affect the timeliness of your registration, and you will still be eligible to vote in the November 6 election, but it will affect your ability to confirm your registration immediately, and we want to avoid that confusion.”

Online voter registration functions by retrieving the signature that is on file with the DMV to complete the registration application. The system to retrieve the signatures caps the total number of new registrations at 3,000 per day. If the total number of new registrants exceeds that cap, the voter application is placed into pending status awaiting confirmation that a proper signature from DMV is on file. The deadline for online registration is midnight, October 6. Voters who completed an online application after the 3,000-person daily cap has been reached will be temporarily placed into pending status awaiting final confirmation of their signature on file with the DMV.

“Register now, and don't procrastinate,” said Miller. “If you wait until the final minutes before the 11:59 p.m. deadline on October 6, we will not be able to immediately confirm your eligibility for the November 6 election.”

Since online registration began in Clark County on August 31, 2010, there have been more than 47,800 registrations total, of which close to 32,000 are new registrations. Online registration has been available to all 17 Nevada counties since September 2012.

Registration online at www.registertovotenv.gov is fast and simple. Eligible Nevadans only need a Nevada Driver’s License or DMV issue ID, and their Social Security Number. The deadline for in-person registration at your county registrar’s office is October 16.

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